Truth & Consequences
Coating Adhesion Testing in Accordance
with ASTM D4541ÑSticky Business
O
n a recent coating
project, adhesion
testing was to be
done in accordance with ASTM
D4541. The specified require-
ments were that a minimum of
one test be done per 1,000
square feet of coating, and one
test per 100 square feet of coat-
ing repairs. The coating specifica-
tion itself required a minimum
adhesion of 1,000 psi. However,
the coating specification was tai-
lored to a particular 100% vol-
ume solids polyurethane for which the
product data sheet advertised an adhe-
sion value of 2,000 psi. Prior to com-
mencing work, it was decided that the
coating needed to test out at a minimum
of 1,900 psi. It seemed reasonable that
the coating adhesion should be at least
95% of the advertised value (95% of
2,000 psi = 1,900 psi). Many tests were to
2,000 psi or beyond without adhesion
failure. Unfortunately for the contractor,
many tests did not meet the minimum
requirement of 1,900 psi. A few failed
tests of very small total area meant the
contractor had to reblast and reapply
coating to large areas. Boy, was he stuck!
It’s imperative that a coating adhere
well to the substrate, and adhesion test-
ing seems like a straightforward task. But
coating adhesion is extremely complex
and poorly understood. Simple adhesion
testing such as probing and attempting to
lift coating with a putty knife or pocket
knife is subjective. Pull-off tensile adhe-
sion testing is conceptually simple, and it
provides a single discrete quantity—the
force required to cause fracture. The
nature of the coating fracture in terms of
18
By Mark Schilling, Corrosion Probe, Inc.
adhesive vs. cohesive failure should be
noted, as well as the relative areas, and it
sometimes is, but it’s that discrete quanti-
tative value which people covet.
Although the test result is a single
numerical value, any such test is only an
indication of relative performance. There
is more to coating adhesion testing than
using a tool to get a numerical result that
can be used as a pass/fail criterion. The
ASTM D4541 test method was specified,
but it provides information that was com-
pletely ignored on this project.
The test reflects both material and
instrumental parameters. Different tools
and different adhesives give different val-
ues. Differences in temperature, humidi-
ty, and other factors complicate matters.
Even the rigidity of the substrate affects
the test results. For example, all else
equal, test values are generally higher on
1
⁄4-inch-thick steel compared to 1⁄8-inch-
thick steel.
The principal problem is that the test
method suffers from a lack of repro-
ducibility. Section 6.1.1 of ASTM D4541
says that at least three replications are
usually required in order to statistically
JPCL / April 2004 / PCE
categorize the test area (as com-
pared with the job requirement
of one test per 1,000 square feet).
As with SSPC-PA 2, the aim is to
statistically categorize an area,
not to seek out and find a low
value.
ASTM D4541-02 contains a
section that addresses precision
and has a table that shows the
expected variance for laboratory
test results (intra-laboratory—
done in the same lab, as well as
inter-laboratory—a comparison
between different labs). The variability is
presented in three different forms. The
first is the coefficient of variation, which
is a decimal or percentage determined by
dividing the standard deviation of a sam-
ple by the mean (average). The second is in
terms of degrees of freedom, which
relates to the t-distribution for the sample.
(Think in terms of the familiar bell curve.)
These are terms that only a statistician
could love. Thankfully, the third approach
is more straightforward and amenable to
coatings professionals—a maximum
acceptable percentage difference.
The table shows that depending on
instrument type, the acceptable percent-
age difference between two values may
be between about 25% and 58%. That
provides a clear indication that the test is
quite variable, but an example helps. For
a type IV instrument used in the same
laboratory, Table 1 of ASTM D4541-02
gives the coefficient of variation as 8.5%,
there are 48 degrees of freedom, and the
maximum acceptable difference is 29%.
The difference in percent relative to two
test results is determined by the simple
equation on page 19.
www.paintsquare.com
 being used seems reasonable, if one an adhesion value of 1,000 psi. In fact, a
(X1 - X2) doesn’t know anything about coatings coating with a lower adhesion value can
X 100 as materials, the test instruments, and be the better performer. PSI is a conve-
(X1 + X2) / 2 the ASTM D4541 standard test nient and familiar unit of measure.
method. Coating adhesion is not at all Coatings may be applied by the square
Now consider two test values: 2,100 like the tensile strength of steel or the foot but they do not perform or fail by
psi and 1,600 psi. Plugging these into the compressive strength of concrete. A the square anything. Don’t get stuck
equation gives a result of 27%, which is coating with an adhesion value of 2,000 chasing magic numbers.
less than the 29% maximum acceptable psi is not twice as good as a coating with
difference given in the ASTM table. The
stated precision of the test method is so
poor that neither of these two values,
2,100 psi or 1,600 psi, can be declared to
be the one that is correct. With a very
small sampling of only a few measure-
ments, these two values should rightful-
ly be regarded as pretty much the same
result. That’s not common sense, but
that’s precision for you, or lack thereof.
Accuracy and precision are some-
times thought of as being more or less
the same thing when in fact, they are
very different. Accuracy is a question
of being on target. Precision is a ques-
tion of repeatability and reproducibility.
For example, when throwing darts and
aiming for the bull’s eye, if one throws
three darts with each landing one inch
from the center of the bull’s eye but
spaced at the corners of an equilateral
triangle, one has good accuracy, but pre-
cision is poor. The darts are all close to
target, but they are not close to each
other. In fact, they are on all sides of the
target. In contrast, if all three darts land
in the double 20 slot, accuracy is poor
but precision is excellent. For good
accuracy and good precision, one needs
to put all three darts close to the bull’s
eye, and close to each other.
The various types of tensile pull-off
testers can be calibrated for good accu-
racy. The shortcoming of the test
method, however, is that the precision is
not very good. It’s not very precise in the
laboratory. Don’t expect it to be better
under field conditions.
Specifying a minimum tensile pull-off
adhesion value of 1,900 psi on this pro-
ject to get within 5% of the advertised
adhesion of 2,000 psi for the coating

www.paintsquare.com JPCL / April 2004 / PCE 19